Libraries - Bibliomania and its Treatment (3 photos)

 Postcard Memories is a weekly series of historic postcard views and photos submitted by René Hackstetter.

Kids growing up in my old hometown who suffered from Bibliomania knew the library helped the obsession.

There was an added benefit that many of us knew. Mrs. Nan Serra was the librarian of this treasure trove and her cheery English accent greeted you whenever you entered, even if you were returning your book late.

Nan, meanwhile, reminded me of Dame Edith Sitwell and she had the beak and the demeanour to go with it. Now, I am not saying she was haughty - she probably went to some English boarding school in which the Headmistress was a Miss something or other and all the girls wore grey flannel skirts. And there was probably a Deputy Head Girl and Nan was it. You know the type.

But Nan could direct you to the right book. If it was Edgar Allan Poe or Greatest Ghost Stories ever told, she knew exactly where they were. I still shudder thinking of The Cask of Amontillado. Poe sure knew what claustrophobia was. What guilt that guy felt in the Tell-Tale Heart?

Mrs. Helen Delaney was my go-to librarian in Midland. Same deal with Mrs. D as Mrs. Serra. They were both cut from the same English cloth as each other. Mrs. Delaney with her coiffed white hair, blue eyes, intensely warm manner and Trinity College training knew exactly where each treasure was located.

She interviewed famous Canadian authors at the library and our town’s reputation benefited. Margaret Laurence, James Bacque, Malcolm Muggeridge, Richard Wright, Charles Templeton and Don Harron to name only a few.

Two items worth thinking about were the quality of the books and the building itself. Housed in the old limestone Post Office built in 1913 and chock full of books on not one, but three floors, it was a haven for all those adolescents who didn’t play hockey or football. It was Mrs. Delaney who pushed hard to move the Library to its present location to minister to the needy bibliophiles.

It was both these librarians and to all who slave in the stacks that our story is dedicated.

They make us literate and liberate us by illuminating the paths to knowledge and understanding. In a world ruled by an internet that is instantaneous and opinionated, we find solace and reflection, quietude and thoughtfulness in our libraries.

The author lives happily ever after with the daughter of Helen Delaney….the bibliomania  remains. 

Copyright René Hackstetter June 22, 2020.